Marlins players only meeting comes after Stanton says team is lacking fire

The Marlins called a players only meeting Saturday after Giancarlo Stanton was critical of the team’s play.

NEW YORK – Anyone who had under two weeks for the Marlins to call a players only meeting, start collecting.

The meeting was called before Saturday’s game against the Mets and lasted about 30 minutes. The only thing we know for sure was players made a pact not to discuss anything that was said with the media.

“We took care it, we said what we had to say,” outfielder Christian Yelich said. “We’re going to keep it in (house).”

The meeting came hours after slugger Giancarlo Stanton said the team was lacking fire and was critical of his teammates for not giving full effort for nine innings.

“We’re not really giving ourselves a chance, it feels like,” Stanton said after Friday’s 4-1 loss dropped the Marlins to 3-8.

“We’ve got a positive vibe, but (something) is just not there. The fire is not there, it seems like. You always want to have it. But when you’re out there, and it’s game time, it’s just nothing there it seems like.

“The game is nine innings. It’s not two, three. It doesn’t matter if it’s the fifth through the seventh, or the seventh through the ninth. It’s not two innings, it’s nine. We’re not playing nine.”

Manager Mike Redmond is not surprised Stanton displayed his frustrations or that the players decided to air their grievances after just 11 games.

“I think he was just trying to make a point, trying to get guys to turn it up a notch,” Redmond said. “Any time you start losing games, stuff like that comes up. At the end of the day, we’re the ones who can control what we do out on the field.”

On meeting, he said: “I think it’s always good for players to talk amongst each other and motivate each other. If they don’t like something that’s going on they work that out amongst themselves. I think sometimes meeting that that can be productive and hopefully it is for us.”

Stanton, 25, is the longest tenured member of the Marlins. He signed the richest contract in North American team sports history during the offseason, inking a 13-year, $325 million deal.

Salty back in the lineup

Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia is back in the lineup tonight after being benched for three games. Redmond said J.T. Realmuto will be back in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale.

“That was the plan with a day game tomorrow,” Redmond said. “Salty is a big part of our ball club and we need him to go out there and play like we know he’s capable of doing. Hopefully a couple days off was good for him because we need him.”

Salty expressed his unhappiness with Redmond’s decision on Friday. He believed six games was too small a sample size to make the decision to remove him from the lineup. He is hitting .091 (2-for-22) with 11 strikeouts.

Tonight lineup

2B Gordon

LF Yelich

RF Stanton

3B Prado

1B Morse

CF Ozuna

C Salty

SS Hechavarria

RHP Latos

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